Girdle



Jan. 15, 1935. L' MEARES 1,987,965

GIRDLE Filed Aug. 1. 1935 ET 7 a5 '14 11 Patented Jan. 15, 1935 GIRDLELillian Meares, RutherfordpN. J., assignor to Venus Corporation, NewYork, N. Y., a corporation of New York Application August 1, 1933,Serial No. 683,213

3 Claims.

The present invention relates to nether garments and more particularlyto an improved type of girdle. 1

An object of the present invention is to provide a girdle which is ofcontractile form and which is relatively long so as to extend down overthe hips and thighs, and which is provided with means for securelyanchoring the upper and lower ends of the garment in place, to hold itin stretched position not only circumferentially about the hips andthighs, but also in stretched position lengthwise of the garment.

The invention has for another object to provide a girdle which may be ofsubstantially tubular form, and which has a body part capable ofexpansion circumferentially and which may be also stretchedlongitudinally so that when applied, the garment may be anchored incorrect position at its upper end about the waist, and may be securelyanchored at its lower end upon the legs.

A still further object of the invention is to provide a girdle whichembodies certain character'- istic structures to extend down and performthe function of a corselet and which at the same time .s will serve tocompress the hips and thighs and -will present a smooth anduninterrupted exterior surface throughout its entire length and entirelyabout its circumference.

Another feature of the present invention is to provide a girdle the bodyportion of which may be.

made from material capable of stretching both longitudinally andcircumferentially, and which has incorporated therein at the upper andlower portions of the girdle bands which may be woven i intothe bodyfabric for rendering the bands yieldable circumferentially only, and forholding the band portions against yielding lengthwise, so that the bandportions will effectively anchor the top and bottom portions of thegarment in stretched position. With the foregoing and other objects inview, the invention will be more fully described hereinafter, and willbe more particularly pointed out in the claims appended hereto.

In the drawing, wherein like symbols refer to like or correspondingparts throughout the sev- ,eral views, 7

Figure 1 is a-front elevation of the garment in stretched and appliedposition.

the lower portion of the garment substantially on the line 3-3 of Figure1.

Figure 4 is a bottom view of the garment in stretched position.

Figure 5 is a front elevation of the garment when not in use and innormal contracted position.

Figure 6 is a fragmentary enlarged section taken through an end portionof the garment,

showing the band construction incorporated in the fabric.

Figure 7. is a sectional view taken through the body portion of thegarment on the line 'l'! of Figure 6, and showing the fabric incontracted and stretched positions, and

Figure 8 is a similar view taken on the line 88 of Figure 6 through theband portion ofthe garment in contracted and stretched positions.

Referring now to the drawing, and first to Figure 5, the garmentcomprises a substantially tubular body portion 10, which is of knittedfabric or the like capable of stretching lengthwise and alsocircumferentially. The body 10 may be made in one or more sections andis shown in the present instance as made of front and back sections withlongitudinal lines of stitching-1l therein which also serve tostrengthen the garment.

The upper end of the body portion 10 is pro, vided with a waist band 12,which is preferably incorporated in the structure of the body 10 bycombined ribbing, or the like, closely knitted to resist to anappreciable extentlengthwise stretching, but which is capable ofyielding circumferentially. The close weaving of the waist band 12 alsoserves to increase the resistance to the stretching of the bandcircumferentlally, so that the waist band 12 is normally, in a retractedposition as shown in Figure 5.

At the lower end, the body portion 10 is cut.

away at its front and back intermediately between its'sides to provide acrotch, and such crotch flares through the lower extremity of the bodyportion 10. Secured in thecrotch is a preferably non-elastic gusset 18,which completes at its free end portions the leg portions of the garmentbody, and the garment body is provided with leg bands 13 constructedsimilarly to the waist band 12 for resisting to a greater extent thecircumferential stretching of the lower ends of the garment and to holdthe bands 13 against longitudinal yielding.

As shown in Figure 8, the band portions 12 and 13 comprise connected orcomposite ribs 15 which are compact or closely knitted, and which thusresist to a considerable degree the stretching of the same bothlongitudinally and circumferentially, while the body portion 10 of thegarment is knitted more loosely and with divided ribs 14, as shown inFigure 8 wherein the ribs 14 are capable of more readily being separatedduring the circumferential stretching of the body portion and which willalso yield lengthwise for taking care of inequalities in the length ofthe ribs throughout the circumference of the body incident to therounding out or bulging of the body portion when applied.

When the garment is applied to the person, the waist band 12 provides afirm anchor at the waist line for the upper end of the body portion 10.The body portion 10 may be stretched downwardly over the hips andthighs, and is also circumferentially enlarged to conform to the shapeof the person and to exert the desired pressure of compression on thehips and thighs; the combined longitudinal and circumferential yieldingpermitting the garment to readily conform to the shape and movement ofthe person and at the same time maintaining the upper and lower ends ofthe garment in their proper relative positions. The leg bands 13 resistlongitudinal stretching to a large extent and provide firm grippingmeans to resist the tension to the body portion 10 for anchoring thelower end of the body portion in its stretched and distended position.

The inelastic gusset 16 holds the lower divided end or crotch of thegarment in proper shape so as to prevent the yielding material thereoffrom drawing out of place, and also serves to anchor the intermediatefront and back strands or ribs in position to exert the desiredcompression on the body of the person wearing the garment.

A modified form consists in having the crotch piece 16, extend upwardlyalong the body portion, so as to provide a closure for an enlargedopening in the nature of a fiy.

It is obvious that various changes and modifications may be made in thedetails of construction and design of the above specifically describedembodiment of this invention without departing from the spirit thereof,such changes and modifications being restricted only by the scope of thefollowing claims:-

What is claimed is:--

1. A girdle comprising a normally contractile body portioncircumferentially and longitudinally yieldable adapted to be stretchedover the hips and downwardly over the thighs to conform to and compressthe same, a circumferentially yieldable waist band at the top of thegarment for anchoring the upper end of the garment at the waist line,the lower end of the body portion having registering longitudinal frontand back intermediate cuts therein to provide leg portions, anon-yieldable gusset secured along the marginal edges of said cuts inthe body portion to complete the leg construction thereof, andcircumferentially yieldable leg band portions disposed at the bottom ofthe leg portions to anchor the lower end of the body portion instretched position over the hips and thighs said gusset terminating ateach end at the bottom of said leg portions.

2. A girdle comprising a body of fabric of tubular shape capable ofstretching in any direction, said tubular body having cuts in the frontand back portions thereof and at its lower end to provide leg portions,a non-yieldable gusset secured to the marginal edges of said cuts toprovide a closed crotch and terminating at each end at the bottom ofsaid leg portions, said body portion having reinforcements in its upperand lower edge portions to resist longitudinal stretching and toincrease the resistance of said upper and lower portions tocircumferential stretching said reinforcements being substantiallynon-stretchable longitudinally.

3. A girdle comprising a circumferentially and longitudinally yieldablebody portion adapted to be stretched over the hips and downwardly overthe thighs to conform to and compress the same, means at the top of thegarment for anchoring the upperend of the garment at the waist line, thelower end of the body portion having registering longitudinal front andback intermediate cuts therein to provide leg portions, a substantiallyinelastic gusset attached along the marginal edges of said cuts in thebody portion to complete the leg construction thereof, said gussetterminating at each end at the bottom of said leg portion, and meanscircumferentially disposed at the bottom of the leg portions to anchorthe lower end of the body portion in stretched position over the thighs.

